DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/18/2024 and 03/24/2025 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (US 20200161766).
Liu et al. disclose;
Regarding claim 1:
(in Figs. 1, 3 and 5) a portable communication device (in Fig. 1), comprising: a housing (100); a display (101) accommodated in the housing (100) as visible via a front surface of the portable communication device (as in Fig. 1); a first printed circuit board (PCB) (12) including a first core layer (defined by the 12), the first PCB (12) including: a first surface (121) and a second surface (122) opposite to each other (See Figs.), and a first set of one or more insulating layers (See Figs.) between the first surface (121) and the second surface (122); and a second PCB (14) disposed under and facing toward the first PCB (12), the second PCB (14) including a second core layer (defined by the 14) thicker than the first core layer (defined by the 12)(see par. [0072] “In one embodiment, the first substrate 12 is a two-layer board and is 250 μm in thickness, the second substrate 14 is a six-layer board and is 430 μm in thickness”), and electrically connected with the first PCB (12) via a plurality of solders (19), the second PCB (14) including: a third surface (142) and a fourth surface (141) opposite to each other (See Figs.), the third surface (142) facing away from the first surface (121) of the first PCB (12) and the fourth surface (141) facing toward the first surface (121) of the first PCB (12), a second set of one or more insulating layers (See Figs.) between the third surface (142) and the fourth surface (141), a first antenna array (11) configured to radiate a first beam using a first millimeter wave frequency band, and a second antenna array (13) configured to radiate a second beam using a second millimeter wave frequency band (Para. 0071, Lines 11-18; for operation at 39 GHz and 60 GHz).
Regarding claim 5:
the first surface (121) and the second surface (122) of the first PCB (12) face a rear surface and the front surface of the portable communication device (in Fig. 1), respectively (See Figs.).
Regarding claim 6:
at least one of the first antenna array (11) is configured to radiate a corresponding one of the first beam and the second beam toward the rear surface (Para. 0047, Lines 1-3).
Regarding claim 7:
each of the first surface (121) and the second surface (122) of the first PCB (12) faces a side surface of the portable communication device between the front surface and a rear surface thereof (in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8:
the second antenna array (13) is configured to radiate a corresponding one of the first beam and the second beam toward the side surface (Para. 0048, Lines 1-3).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20200161766) in view of Kamgaing et al. (US 20150325925).
Regarding claims 2 and 4:
Liu et al. are silent on that the first set of one or more insulating layers includes three or more insulating layers, and the second set of insulating layers include three or more insulating layers as required by claim 2; and the first set of one or more insulating layers is composed of a first material, and the second set of one or more insulating layers is composed of a second material different from the first material as required by claim 4.
Kamgaing et al. disclose the first set of one or more insulating layers includes three or more insulating layers (defined by 212, 209, 208, 207 and 206), and the second set of insulating layers include three or more insulating layers (281, 280 and the layer along 250); the first set of one or more insulating layers (defined by 212, 209, 208, 207 and 206) is composed of a first material, and the second set of one or more insulating layers (281, 280 and the layer along 250) is composed of a second material different from the first material (Para. 0014, Lines 1-4; Para. 0020, 8-13).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the first set of one or more insulating layers includes three or more insulating layers, and the second set of insulating layers include three or more insulating layers and the first set of one or more insulating layers is composed of a first material, and the second set of one or more insulating layers is composed of a second material different from the first material as taught by Kamgaing et al. into the device of Liu et al. for the benefit of minimizing the routing losses and improve antenna efficiency (Para. 0019, Lines 4-5).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20200161766).
Regarding claim 3:
Liu et al. is silent on that the first antenna array is configured to radiate the first beam using the first millimeter wave frequency band between 24 Gigahertz (GHz) and 30 GHz, and the second antenna array is configured to radiate the second beam using the second millimeter wave frequency band between 37 GHz and 40 GHz.
However, Liu et al. contemplate that the antennas are can be sized for operation at the first millimeter wave frequency band between 24 Gigahertz (GHz) and 30 GHz (for operation at 28 GHz) and the second millimeter wave frequency band between 37 GHz and 40 GHz (Para. 0071, Lines 11-18; for operation at 39 GHz).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date od the claimed invention to implement the first beam using the first millimeter wave frequency band between 24 Gigahertz (GHz) and 30 GHz and the second beam using the second millimeter wave frequency band between 37 GHz and 40 GHz as contemplated by Liu et al. for the benefit of achieving a high-precision process required to manufacture and design a millimeter-wave antenna (Para. 0003, Lines 9-10).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20200161766) in view of Zhang et al. (US 20210242568).
Regarding claim 9:
Liu et al. are silent on that a third PCB located between the first PCB and the front surface of the portable communication device, and electrically connected with the first PCB.
Zhang et al. disclose further comprising: (in Figs. 2 and 9) a third PCB (262) located between the first PCB (300) and the front surface (along 230) of the portable communication device (200), and electrically connected with the first PCB (300, via 377).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement a third PCB located between the first PCB and the front surface of the portable communication device, and electrically connected with the first PCB as taught by Zhang et al. into the device of Liu et al. for the benefit of accommodating other electronic e.g. antenna/radiator (Para. 0094, Lines 7-8) to improve overall gain and bandwidth of the antenna (Para. 0016, Lines 6-7; Para. 0030, Lines 10-13).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAMIDELE A. IMMANUEL whose telephone number is (571)272-9988. The examiner can normally be reached General IFP Schedule: Mon.-Fri. 8AM - 7PM (Hoteling).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dimary Lopez can be reached at 5712707893. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BAMIDELE A IMMANUEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/DIMARY S LOPEZ CRUZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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